AP: Revisions in Ration Cards Facing Human and System Challenges
New simplified rules hit hurdles due to staff shortages and database mismatches
Tirupati: Ration cards are being revised as per the new government guidelines. But the process is facing delays due to lack of awareness among village and ward secretariat staff, apart from technical issues. The NDA government has amended several rules to make issuance of new ration cards and related services easy. But their implementation on the ground is facing difficulties.
The previous government issued new ration cards only in limited numbers. Adding or removing a member from the ration card involved several restrictive rules. After the new government took over, it reviewed the ration card policy and introduced simplified procedures from May 11 for services, such as applying for new cards, adding or removing members, address changes, card division, Aadhaar correction, and surrender of cards.
However, problems that had crept in during household mapping are creating complications. Many families are finding mismatches in the database, particularly related to members who have changed residence due to marriage and various other reasons. In several cases, daughters-in-law continue to be listed in their native villages in the household mapping data, despite now living with their in-laws.
“My daughter-in-law is living with us. But her name still appears in her mother’s village,” said D. Lakshmamma of Tirupati. “When I tried to add her name in our ration card, they are insisting on a marriage certificate, even though the government says it is not mandatory”.
To address this particular issue, Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar has introduced a marriage migration option. But some secretariat staff are unaware of this provision, leading to applicants facing hurdles.
Frequent server issues are another impediment. Processing of applications is slow. There is a staffing problem. For example, in Tirupati Urban mandal, there are 102 secretariats serving over four lakh ration card holders. The rush for services is high. Many staff had recently been deployed for Gangamma Jatara. They are now engaged in distributing property tax demand notices. There is thus a shortage of staff at service counters.
As of last week, district officials had received over 2,400 applications for new ration cards, 10,249 for addition of members, 340 for removal of names, 379 for address changes, 1,076 for card division, 196 for Aadhaar correction, and 25 for card surrender.
“We have updated staff about new rules. We are conducting training for staff to avoid any confusion,” said a Civil Supplies official in Tirupati. “Issues coming up in the initial stages are being addressed. Services will run smoothly in the coming days,” the official assured.
Citizens are seeking better coordination at the secretariats, so that they do not have to make repeat visits for ration card services.
